Zacchaeus...You Come Down!

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…Deuteronomy 11:18-19. 

Can I just say…I love my church!

I love our pastors!

I love my church family!

I love the vision our Youth Ministry and Children’s programs have for our teens and children!

I love the praise and worship!

I am so blessed to be a part of a church that makes prayer a huge priority in the life of the church… seeking God for guidance, wisdom, and direction…desiring what God desires for the life of our church.

As I said…I love my church!

A few weeks ago, as my daughter and her family were leaving church, my daughter was carrying large placemats for Hudson and Beau!

She shared that the placemats had each month’s Sunday school lessons, providing parents an opportunity to discuss the lesson with their children throughout the week!

I love that our church comes alongside parents, providing them with a variety of teaching tools to use throughout the week with their children.

A few days later, I was having dinner with this precious family.

Bekah had the placemats out and after dinner, the boys were encouraged to draw a picture in the space provided on their placement of last Sunday’s lesson.

That particular week, they boys had heard the story of the woman at the well!

Hudson was very detailed as he drew a brick well, Jesus and a woman with a bucket.

Beau’s picture was mostly of water, but still very artistic!

This past Sunday, I was blessed to join them for dinner again!

Their Sunday school lesson that morning had been about Zacchaeus!

 As their sweet mama asked them questions, the boys responded back with what they had learned that morning!

And then they began to draw the story of Zacchaeus!

Bowed over their placemats, the boys were intent on drawing what they believed Jesus would look like when he spoke to Zacchaeus!

Beau seemed focused on drawing a frame around his picture, but as you can see…it is one of the best pictures frames that I have ever seen!

Hudson was little more detailed.  His picture included…

Zacchaeus up in a tree…

A house… (Remember…Jesus told Zacchaeus that he was going to his house)!

And of course Jesus!

Hudson even included curved lines, which represented that Jesus was talking…and telling Zacchaeus to come down!

I love his imagination!  And I love that he had listened and heard the word of God during his Sunday school lesson.

Psalm 119:11 states…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

I love that these little boys are learning to hide God’s word in their hearts!

I love that they have parents and a church family that is encouraging them to do this as well!

God’s word also tells us… Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…Deuteronomy 11:18-19. 

We need to fill our hearts with the word of God.

We need to fix our eyes upon the word of God…allowing the word of God to guide us in our everyday life!

And when his word is hidden in our hearts, we can speak it in truth…knowing what we share is the inspired word of God.

In Deuteronomy, Moses encouraged God’s people to know and remember his laws, so much so, that they became a central part of their thoughts!

They became a way of life for them.

They were encouraged to tie the rules of the law to their hands…to remember them. 

They were encouraged to wear them on the front of their heads.

We can do the same! 

We may not want to tie them to our foreheads, but we can write out scripture on index cards and place it in front of us…

On a bathroom or dresser mirror…so we can read it morning…

In our cars…

In the laundry room…

On your coffee pot…

On your computer…

You can place those scripture cards anywhere…any place where you can see it and read it often…allowing you an opportunity to read the scripture over and over…focusing on it daily…so you can hide the word of God in your hearts!

The Israelites were also encouraged to talk about God…and they were encouraged to teach God and His ways to their children!

They were encouraged to talk about God when they sat at home…

When they walked along the road…

When they lied down…

When they got up…

They were to share God with their children all the time!

It was important that their children learned about God, just as it is important to us for our children…our grandchildren…to learn about God.

So share God’s word…his stories…what HE has done…every opportunity you get!

Dear Heavenly Father…thank you for our churches!  Thank you for pastors…Sunday school teachers…and others in our lives that teach us the word of God.  Help each of us to hide your word in hearts so that we might not sin against you!